Clinton urges Española crowd to back Obama

Steve Terrell | The New Mexican

8/17/2008 - 8/18/08

ESPAÑOLA — Sen. Hillary Clinton, in an effort to convince her supporters — including a large number of Hispanic voters — to get behind the campaign of presidential candidate Barack Obama, appeared Sunday at a rally at an Española gymnasium before hundreds of cheering Democrats.

Clinton was in the state for two fundraisers hosted by Gov. Bill Richardson to help relieve her campaign debt, one in Santa Fe at the home of Dave Contarino, Gov. Bill Richardson's former campaign manager, and one in Albuquerque at the home of racetrack owner Paul Blanchard, a major campaign contributor.

"I know that many of you here today voted for me, you worked for me. And I will never forget what you did for me, ever," Clinton told the crowd at the Northern New Mexico College gym. "But I want you to know if you voted for me, you have far more in common with Sen. Obama than you do with Sen. McCain. ... I hope you all will join in this historic endeavor. Everyone who supported me, I hope you work as hard for Sen. Obama as you worked for me."

After the speech, Clinton told reporters the Obama campaign had asked her to speak in Española, which was her only public appearance on this New Mexico trip.

Although Obama won Santa Fe County in New Mexico's Democratic caucuses in February, Clinton beat Obama by wide margins in Hispanic-heavy Northern New Mexico counties and also won big Hispanic majorities in primaries around the country. Clinton barely edged Obama statewide in the New Mexico caucuses.

"I did very well here in the (caucuses)," she said. "I'm very grateful to the elected officials and the people of this country."

Clinton said she has a long history with the Hispanic community, starting in 1972 when she registered voters in the Rio Grande Valley. She said she has a "real wealth of personal contacts" with Hispanics around the country and represents New York, "which has a large Latino population."

As has been the case in the past two elections, New Mexico is seen as a battleground state in the presidential contest. One key to winning its five electoral votes is the Hispanic vote. President Bush won New Mexico in 2004 by less than 1 percent. One reason for his win — in addition to lopsided Republican margins in southeastern New Mexico — is that he won a higher percentage of Hispanic votes than most Republican candidates.

Clinton several times thanked New Mexico Democrats for supporting her in the caucuses. "And I particularly appreciate the extraordinary support I received from Hispanic voters. I know what Hispanic voters want is what everybody wants." She listed economic concerns such as high gas, food and health care prices and the decreasing values of homes.

The New Mexico visit also can be seen as some fence-mending between Clinton and Richardson, who embraced his former rival before she spoke. Clinton called the governor "my longtime friend."

Richardson ran against Clinton and Obama in the early primaries this year. He dropped out after poor showings in Iowa and New Hampshire. The governor — who served as United Nations ambassador and energy secretary for former President Bill Clinton — angered many in the Clinton camp when he went on to endorse Obama. A longtime strategist for Bill Clinton, James Carville, even went so far as to compare Richardson to Judas Iscariot for what he saw as a betrayal.

But there was no sign of animosity Sunday, which was the first time Clinton and Richardson have appeared in public together since Richardson dropped out.

"This was a hard-fought campaign," Clinton said in her speech. "I was honored to run in a field that included Bill Richardson. And he added so much to the campaign. And now we are working together to try to elect Sen. Obama. And we cannot do that if we are not unified."

Richardson, who spoke before Clinton on Sunday, referred to the historic significance of Clinton's presidential run. She would have been the first woman elected had she won this year. "Now she's doing everything she can to unite the ticket," Richardson said.

In addition to Richardson, many other heavyweights in the state Democratic Party attended Clinton's appearance, including Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman and 3rd Congressional District candidate Ben Ray Luján, who introduced Clinton.

As a "swing state," New Mexico has seen more than its share of visits by the candidates and their top surrogates. Obama is appearing in Albuquerque today. Republican John McCain is scheduled to appear in Las Cruces on Wednesday.

Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com.